Indian minister Shashi Tharoor’s wife died an ‘unnatural death’

Dean Nelson, Sunday Telegraph01.18.2014

India's Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor (C) and relatives and friends carry the body of Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar before her cremation in New Delhi on January 18, 2014. The wife of Indian minister Shashi Tharoor, found dead in a luxury hotel after accusing her husband of being unfaithful, suffered an "unnatural, sudden death", a doctor who performed an autopsy on her body said. AFP PHOTO/ SAJJAD HUSSAINSAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty ImagesSAJJAD HUSSAIN
/ AFP/Getty Images

Relatives and friends gather around the body of the wife of India's Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor Sunanda Pushkar at a cremation centre in New Delhi on January 18, 2014. The wife of Indian minister Shashi Tharoor, found dead in a luxury hotel after accusing her husband of being unfaithful, suffered an "unnatural, sudden death", a doctor who performed an autopsy on her body said. AFP PHOTO/ SAJJAD HUSSAINSAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty ImagesSAJJAD HUSSAIN
/ AFP/Getty Images

India's Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor (C) sits with other relatives and friends alongside the body of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at a cremation centre in New Delhi on January 18, 2014. The wife of Indian minister Shashi Tharoor, found dead in a luxury hotel after accusing her husband of being unfaithful, suffered an "unnatural, sudden death", a doctor who performed an autopsy on her body said. AFP PHOTO/ SAJJAD HUSSAINSAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty ImagesSAJJAD HUSSAIN
/ AFP/Getty Images

India's Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor (3R) gestures as he sits with other relatives and friends alongside the body of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at a cremation centre in New Delhi on January 18, 2014. The wife of Indian minister Shashi Tharoor, found dead in a luxury hotel after accusing her husband of being unfaithful, suffered an "unnatural, sudden death", a doctor who performed an autopsy on her body said. AFP PHOTO/ SAJJAD HUSSAINSAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty ImagesSAJJAD HUSSAIN
/ AFP/Getty Images

India's Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor (C) gestures to media while escorting the body of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at a cremation centre in New Delhi on January 18, 2014. The wife of Indian minister Shashi Tharoor, found dead in a luxury hotel after accusing her husband of being unfaithful, suffered an "unnatural, sudden death", a doctor who performed an autopsy on her body said. AFP PHOTO/ SAJJAD HUSSAINSAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty ImagesSAJJAD HUSSAIN
/ AFP/Getty Images

Related

Doctors have said that the wife of a senior Indian minister died an “unnatural, sudden death” after revelations about her husband’s alleged affair.

Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, 52, was found dead on Friday in a luxury hotel in Delhi. She had used Twitter to allege that her husband, Shashi Tharoor, had an affair with a Pakistani journalist.

One of the doctors who carried out the autopsy said that “more tests” are needed to determine the final cause of Mrs Tharoor’s death, and the results will not be known for two to three days.

Mrs Tharoor’s death shocked India’s political establishment, which had been captivated by the public row over her husband Shashi Tharoor’s relationship with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar only hours earlier.

Mr Tharoor himself was taken to the hospital late on Friday suffering from palpitations and chest pains, a few hours after discovering his wife dead in their suite at the Leela Hotel. He was later discharged.

Private messages purportedly from the journalist declaring her love for Mr Tharoor and indicating a relationship between them were posted by Mrs Tharoor on his Twitter account, she admitted in interviews after he had claimed his account had been hacked.

Mrs Tharoor had leaked the messages because she believed Ms Tarar was “stalking” her husband and that they had had a “rip-roaring affair”.

She also accused Ms Tarar of being a spy for Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency. Ms Tarar denied all the allegations and said they were a figment of Mrs Tharoor’s imagination.

Indian social media users called it the first “death by Twitter” - with the drama being played out over days on the microblogging site.

Mrs Tharoor said she was heartbroken and would divorce her husband. She moved into the Leela Hotel, she told the television channel NDTV, because of her husband’s alleged behaviour. But the couple reconciled and on Thursday issued a joint statement saying they remained happily married.

Mr Tharoor left her at the hotel early on Friday to attend a Congress Party rally for leader Rahul Gandhi and returned around 8pm. He sat in the lounge because he believed his wife was sleeping, but when he checked in at 8.30pm he found her dead in her nightdress on the bed.

His spokesman said there were no indications of “foul play” and friends have since spoken of her fears for her health. She had been treated in France for abdominal tuberculosis and lupus and had been admitted to hospital in India more recently.

She was taken to the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Trivandrum last week, where she said she “got so many issues diagnosed in KIMS that now who knows when I got 2 go with joy - Hastay hua jayegay [it will happen merrily/easily],” she said on Twitter a few hours before she was found dead.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Indian minister Shashi Tharoor’s wife died an ‘unnatural death’

Video

Technology Videos

Best of Postmedia

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, ‘Come and see.’ And I saw, and behold a white elephant, and he that sat upon him had a crown, which he wore atop his fiery hair, and […]

Millennials, amirite? They’re nothing but Instagram-happy, emoji-LOL-ing, mannequin-challenging navelgazers. Or so the theory goes. How can they put their pants on one leg at a time, like everyone else, when they’re sausaged into skinny jeans? Yet when it comes to […]

An Ottawa judge has thrown out a romance fraud case that has taken more than four years to go to trial, ruling that the excessive delay has robbed the accused man of his right to a fair trial. Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips on Friday stayed the case against Kevin Bishop of Ottawa, who had […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.